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We have been trying to do learning activities all summer long. I try to incorporate fun activities with learning components that will engage the kids’ minds but also let them be little and have fun. This week I found this science makes ice-cream fun (and tasty) activity.

When I was a kid I remember helping my mother make ice-cream and make butter as fun little at-home science experiments. I had not even thought to do it at home with my kids until I came across this post at Growing a Jeweled Rose.

This activity is actually the greatest science experiment for summer. The Science Behind Ice Cream in a Bag is that the salt lowers the melting point of the ice. This is why we add salt to roads in the winter. When you shake and move the bag it causes the salt and ice to react creating ice-cream! Check out Growing a Jeweled Rose for the fun tutorial and recipe. Then try it at home and see just how sweet science actually tastes!

Science is fun. When a child is able to put their hands on something and find out how it works and why it works they learn so much better. What is more exciting than trying something out on your own? This month we want to share a fun science experiment that will allow your kids to discover the difference between oil and water.

Thank you to Growing a Jeweled Rose for creating such a fun and unique way to interact with water and oil. This new experiment will allow you show your kids the property differences of oil and water with a glowing experiment. You and your kids will be excited to create a glowing magical world with oil and water.

Check out just why oil and water are so different below. While you and your kids create the magical glowing world you can share all your knowledge of oil and water and their similar yet different properties.

Oil and Water:

Oil and water are two liquids that are immiscible, meaning they will not mix together. Liquids tend to be immiscible when the force of attraction between the molecules of the same liquid is greater than the force of attraction between the two different liquids.

Although this experiment uses the same volume of oil as water, the two liquids have different masses and therefore, different densities. Density is a measure of how much of a substance is contained in a specific volume of liquid. A liquid that is less dense than water will float on the water; a liquid that has a greater density will sink.

To gain an understanding of density, think of two zippered plastic bags of the same size (same volume). Imagine that one bag contains 10 marbles and the other 20 marbles. The bag containing 20 marbles is denser than the bag containing 10 marbles because it contains more material – even though it is the same material. This analogy describes the relative densities of different concentrations of the same substance.

Also, imagine that there is a third bag containing 10 very large marbles. The volume of the material is the same, the number of molecules (marbles) are the same but again, the bag of large marbles contains more material – it has a greater mass and so a greater density. This analogy represents the experiment above since two different materials are used.

The objects added to the container will float at different levels according to their density. If the density of the object is similar to that of water, the object will float in the water. If similar to the oil, the object will float in the oil.

What does it matter?

Getting oil and water to mix is at the very heart of cleaning dishes and clothes. A lot of agents that make dishes and clothes dirty are greasy or contain oil. Water alone is not attracted to these compounds. However, because a detergent has one end that is attracted to oil-like molecules, detergents tend to bind to dirt, grease and oil. The other half of the detergent binds to water molecules, allowing the soiling agent to be washed away.

Now that the weather is warming up the yards are looking much more beautiful, and the little in-home artists we always seem to forget we employ are looking to get their paint on. If you are like me and you don’t always have paint on hand (it goes bad when I do so why keep it forever?) then you just might want to look in to trying this fun tutorial. Not only can you and your kids make paint, you can make paint that is scratch and sniff. Now once your paint dries you can enjoy how it looks, and how it smells.

I cannot take credit for this amazing idea. But I can take credit for finding it. Growing a Jeweled Rose is an amazing website with all sorts of activities aimed at entertaining and educating kids. This fun and unique tutorial will also you to actually create scratch and sniff paint that can be used to paint the most beautiful picture. It is even non-toxic and completely edible, so if like me you have a small toddler looking to get in on the fun it is “ok” when he very suddenly sticks the whole paintbrush in his mouth.

Head on over to Growing a Jeweled Rose now and see their full tutorial. While you are there you should check out some of their other incredible tutorials. You and our kids just might find some activities to keep you busy this Spring Break.